Industrial automation equipment used in manufacturing is known in the art. Traditionally, product assembly and verification processes have been preformed by custom designed automation equipment dedicated to a particular automation function or task. In accordance with this approach, the manufacture of traditional automation equipment involved the design and construction of a single machine having its own controls, sensors and automation devices in one unit. A drawback of this approach is that once these machines are constructed, they are highly specialized for a particular automation function rendering them unusable for different automation functions without extensive reconstruction or overhaul. Moreover, once a traditional automation machine reached the end of its production cycle, the entire machine would typically be scrapped including the expensive controls and sensors.